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CHILDBIRTH: 

ITS PAINS GREATLY LESSENED, ITS PERILS ENTIRELY 

OBVIATED. 



BEING- AN ACCOUNT OF AN 



EXPERIMENT RECENTLY MADE IN LONDON. 

WITH ALLUSIONS TO 

SEVERAL CASES IN THIS COUNTRY. 

AND A CLEAR 

EXPOSITION OP 1 THEIR PHILOSOPHY. 

SHOWING THAT 

THE PAINS OP CHILDBIRTH MAT BE GREATLY MITIGATED, 
IF NOT ENTIRELY PREVENTED, 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 



" INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL QUALITIES TRANSMISSIBLE. J 

■ 




NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY HENRY G DAGGERS, 

NO. 30 ANN STREET. 




Entered according to Act of Congress, by 

HENRY G. DAGGERS, 

In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York, May 

16, 1845. 



b DlY 





*"*•> >^ >\\ ,U . W ,Y.».. 


\ J ': V 






*v \. -Vw > 



CHILDBIRTH: 



Presumptuous and unnatural as the assertion contained 
in the title of this work may appear, it is, nevertheless, 
sustained by the highest medical authority. Dr. Dewees, 
Professor of Obstetrics in the Medical School of Pensylva- 
nia, in an elaborate Thesis on Childbirth, took the broad 
ground, that pain in childbirth was a morbid symptom, the 
consequence of artificial modes of life and treatment, and 
could be avoided by appropriate habits and treatment. 

It is a well established fact, that women are to be found 
in almost every country who suffer no pain in child.-, 
birth. 

Now, as a natural law never admits of an exception, 
this exemption from pain could not occur in any indivi- 
dual, unless it were fairly within the capabilities of ^the 
race. 



4 CHILDBIRTH. 

c( If the public mind," says Dr. Combe, " were only 
sufficiently enlightened to act on the perception, that no 
effect can take place without some cause, known or un- 
known, preceding it, to which its existence is really due, 
many evils to which we are now subject might easily be 
avoided. If, for example, women in childbed could be 
convinced, from previous knowledge, that, as a general 
rule, the danger attending that state is proportioned to the 
previous sound or unsound condition of the system, and 
to its good or bad management at the time, and is not the 
mere effect of chance, they would be much more anxious 
to find out, and successful in observing, the laws of health, 
both for their own sakes and for the sake of the future 
infant, than they now are, while ignorant of the influence 
of their own conduct. Accordingly, I entirely agree with 
Dr. Eberle, when he says that " the pregnant female, who 
observes a suitable regimen, will, caeieris paribus, always 
enjoy more tranquillity both of mind and body, and incur 
much less risk of injury to herself and child, than she 
who, giving a free reign to her appetite, indulges to excess, 
or in the use of improper articles of food. 

" In sorrow shalt thou bring forth," says the text, allud- 
ing to woman and her offspring. This sentence has re- 
sulted in a general belief that the pains of childbirth, in 
their present aggravated intensity, are unavoidable. That 
this is, to a certain extent, a popular error, is we think, 
conclusively shown in the following paragraph from 
" Combe's Constitution of Man," a work of undeniable 
authority :* 

l»r . i - — I l , I 1 I l II P — r , I I I ■ ■ i . i ■ . . 

* The following remarks of Mr. Combe, " On the Relation be- 
tween Science and Scripture," apply to the present subject : 

"If the views of human nature expounded in this work be 
untrue, the proper answer to them is a demonstration of their 
falsity. If they be true, they are mere enunciations of the insti- 



CHILDBIRTH. 5 

" The sufferings of women in child bed have been cited 
as evidence that the Creator has not intended the human 



tutions of the Creator ; and it argues superstitious, and not reli- 
gious feelings, to fear evil consequences from the knowledge of what 
divine wisdom has appointed. The argument that the results of 
the doctrine are obviously at variance with scripture, and that there, 
fore the doctrines cannot be true, is not admissible; 'for,' in the 
words of Dr. Whately, ' if we really are convinced of the truth of 
scripture, and consequently of the falsity of any theory, (of the earth 
for instance,) which is really at variance with it, we must next be- 
lieve that the theory is also at variance with observable phenomena : 
and we ought not, therefore, to shrink from trying the question by 
these*' 

" Galileo was told, from high authority in the church, that his doc- 
trine of the revolution of the globe was obviously at variance with 
scripture, and that therefore it could not be true : but as his opinions 
were founded on palpable facts, which could be neither concealed 
nor denied, they necessarily prevailed. If there had been a real op- 
position between scripture and nature, the only result would have 
been a demonstration that scripture, in this particular instance, was 
erroneously interpreted ; because the evidence of physical nature is 
imperishable and insuperable, and cannot give way to any authority 
whatever. The same consequences will evidently happen in regard 
to phrenology. If any fact in physiology does actually and directly 
contradict any interpretation of scripture, it is not difficult to per- 
ceive which must yield. The human understanding cannot resist 
evidence founded on observation ; and even if it did resist, nature 
would not bend, but continue to operate in her own way in spite of 
the resistance, and a new and more correct interpretation of scrip- 
ture would ultimately become inevitable. Opposition between sci- 
ence and revelation I sincerely believe to be impossible, when the 
facts in nature are correctly observed, and divine truth is correctly 
interpreted; but I put the case thus strongly to call the serious at- 
tention of religious persons to the mischievous consequences to reli- 
gion of rashly denouncing, as adverse to revelation, any doctrine 
professing to be founded on natural facts. Every instance in which 
the charge is made falsely, is a gross outrage upon revelation itself, 
and tends to lead men to regard scripture as an obstacle to the pro- 
gress of science and civilization, instead of being a system of divine 
wisdom, in harmony with all natural truth," 



6 CHILDBIRTH. 

being under any circumstances, to execute all its func- 
tions free from pain. But, besides the obvious answer 
that the objection applies only to one sex, and is therefore 
not to be too readily presumed to have its origin in nature, 
there is good reason to deny the assertion, and to ascribe 
the suffering in question to departures from the natural 
laws, in either the structure or the habits of the individu- 
als who experience it." 

We might multiply authority to any extent, to prove 
the correctness of this opinion. Reasoning from analogy 
with the animal kingdom— -the book of nature, the hand- 
writing of God, which bears on every page evidence of 
His wisdom and goodness, amply testifies to its correctness. 
Comparative anatomy, also, which shows the difference 
of capacity between the male and female pelvis, sustains 
the opinion that nature has made ample provision for the 
performance of the function of parturition unattended by 
clanger or suffering. 

The following extract from " Mrs. Gove's Lectures to 
Ladies," supports the view last quoted, as to the effects 
of wrong habits, in aggravating the pains and perils of 
child bearing. 

" Many lovely young women enter the married state 
frail as the gossamer, from wrong physical training, un- 
able to bear the slightest hardship, when it is their right, 
by God's intendment, to be hardy and robust. They fall 
victims immediately, and often the grave covers them 
and their first born, and c mysterious Providence' heads 
their obituary. Parent of wisdom ! shall such ignorance 
forever shroud our world ? 

" The functions of gestation and parturition are as natu- 
ral as digestion ; and were mankind brought into a natural 



CHILDBIRTH. 7 

and healthy state, we have reason to believe that these 
functions would be attended with little, if any pain. But 
the healthy tone of the nervous system is destroyed. 
Diseased, convulsed, and erratic action is established by 
the various abuses of civic life, and the most tender and 
endearina; of all relations becomes a horror and a curse. 



" I know many mothers who, with their husbands, have 
adopted the ' Graham System,' or in other words, those 
correct habits recommended in these lectures ; (that is, 
attention to diet, exercise, and bathing freely and con- 
stantly with pure cold water,) and these mothers have 
abridged their sufferings in parturition from forty hours 
to one hour, and have escaped altogether the deathly 
sickness of the three first months of gestation. But 
they avoided all excesses as far as possible. We 
know that the Indians, the lower orders of Irish, and the 
slaves at the South, suffer very little in childbearing. 
Why is this ? God made us all of one blood. Is it not 
that these, living in a less artificial manner, taking much 
exercise in the open air, and living temperately, have 
obeyed more of the laws of their being, and consequently 
do not suffer the penalty of violated laws, as do our vic- 
tims of civilization V 9 

A manuscript, containing an account of the progress 
and successful termination of an experiment for secur- 
ing childbirth with safety, and almost without pain, pub- 
lished in London, 1841, by S. Rowbotham,' author of an 
" Essay on Human Parturition, &c." was sent to the 
writer, requesting her to add her views on the subject, 
and to prepare it for publication. 

The request was cheerfully complied with, in view of 
improving the opportunity of collecting and arranging in 



8 CHILDBIRTH. 

a popular form, information of such vital importance to 
the health and happiness, not only of the present, but also 
future generation of her own sex. For, however well-in- 
formed and intelligent our countrywomen may be on other 
subjects, the one under consideration is, to the majority 
of them, shrouded in more than Egyptian darkness. This 
state of things, however, cannot long remain. A spirit 
of inquiry is abroad ; and in the present age of progress, 
ignorance and prejudice must yield to more liberal and 
enlightened views. The time cannot be far distant when 
a knowledge of the functions of gestation and parturition 
will be considered as necessary as those of digestion, cir- 
culation, or any other natural law of the human sys- 
tem. 

A former copy of this work, which had been prepared 
with much attention, research and labor, together with 
the original manuscript, containing an account of the ex- 
periment, were destroyed by the late fire in the Tribune 
Buildings. Not being able to procure another copy, with- 
out much loss of time, the writer will be obliged to give 
a synopsis of the experiment from recollection. Fortun- 
ately, however, two of the first pages of the manuscript 
had been copied, and were thus preserved. 

" While reading the article ' Age,' " says Mr. Row- 
botham, " in the Penny Cyclopeedia, published by the So- 
ciety for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, I was forci- 
bly impressed by this paragraph : ' When first the human 
embryo becomes distinctly visible, it is almost wholly 
fluid, consisting only of a soft gelatinous pulp. In this 
gelatinous pulp solid substances are formed, which gra- 
dually increase and are fashioned into organs. These 
organs, in their rudimental state, are soft and tender, but, 
in progress of their developement, constantly acquiring a 
greater number of solid particles, the cohesion °f which 



CHILDBIRTH. 9 

progressively increases, the organs at length become 
dense and firm. As the soft solids augment in bulk and 
density, bony particles are deposited, sparingly at first, 
and in detached masses, but accumulating by degrees ; 
these, too, are at length fashioned into distinct oseous 
structures, which, extending in every direction, until 
they unite at every point, ultimately form the connected 
bony framework of the system. This bony fabric, like 
the soft solids, tender and yielding at first, becomes by 
degrees firm and resisting. 5 

" Mr. Rowbotham reasoned from this, that the firm- 
ness and density of a foetus, depends upon the amount of 
bony matter deposited, or entering into its constitution ; 
and, as the foetus is built up, nourished and supported by 
the mother's blood, the mother's blood must be the source 
of bony matter which hardens and consolidates the foetus. 
But blood is derived from food and drink — consequently, 
if different kinds of food arid drink contain different pro- 
portions of this bony matter, it follows, that according 
to the kind of food which the mother subsists upon during 
pregnancy, that is to say, according to the amount of 
earthy or bony matter existing in it, will be the amount 
existing in, or entering into combination with, her blood ; 
and consequently, will the foetus be more or less firm and 



resisting. 



" Diet, then, is the principal thing. Exercise has a 
favorable effect no doubt, but nothing more : it is not a 
primary cause of either difficult or easy parturition. 

" Many midwifes and experienced matrons admit, that, 
not to indulge in eating and drinking more than is barely 
necessary, retards the growth of the foetus, and thus con, 
tributes to the safety of childbirth. 

" Every mother knows," continued Mr. Rowbotham, 
" that the cause of the extreme pain in the birth of a child, 
is the consolidation of its bones while yet in the womb. 



10 CHILDBIRTH. 

Some persons may suppose that this consolidation is desi- 
rable. But this is a mistake. For the free expansion, 
beauty, and grace of its form, it is on the contrary desi- 
rable, that the bones of the child should be in the state of 
gristle, soft, elastic, yielding ; no less than to save suf- 
fering to the mother. Many children are so much injured 
at birth that they suffer through life in various ways ; 
while it is often observed, that seven months' children 
are remarkable for their size, grace, and general fine 
form." 

Mr. Rowbotham, having thus come to the conclusion 
that no injury would result to the child, by this de-ossify- 
ing system, endeavored to persuade his wife to enter into 
his views, and test his favorite theory. 

Although Mrs. Rowbotham had suffered severely in 
two previous labors, she could not be induced to practice 
the self-denial necessary to insure a safe and easy labor, 
until six weeks, as it proved, previous to the expiration 
of her time. At the period in which she commenced this 
depleting system, she was suffering under all the evils of 
pregnancy, which resulted principally from a plethoric 
habit; as nausea, varicose- veins, vertigo or dizziness, yc- 
companied by a disagreeable sensation of lassitude and 
dullness, both of body and mind. These painful symp- 
toms, however, were soon relieved by abstemiousness, a 
simple diet, bathing, fresh air, exercise, and attention to 
the healthy action of all the organs ; a regimen, in 
the opinion of the writer, sufficient to account for the 
easy labor that followed, independently of the theory 
of her husband, in regard to the softening of the foetal- 
bones. 

In order fully to carry out her husband's views, Mrs. 
Rowbotham abstained as far as possible from all articles 
of food containing the phosphate of lime and magnesia. 



CHILDBIRTH. 11 

Wheat, barley, beans, peas, rice, and all farinaceous 
substances, Mr. Rowbotham stated, contained a much 
greater amount of earthy phosphates, than fruits, vege- 
tables, or even animal food. Fine wbeaten flour, whe- 
ther used in the form of bread, cakes, pastry, or pud- 
dings, was particularly objectionable, on account of the 
large portion of earthy matter it contained. Milk, butter, 
and cheese, were, for the same reason, to be avoided. All 
kinds of fruits, on the contrary, were highly recommend- 
ed ; more particularly acid fruits, such as lemons, oranges, 
currants, grapes, &c. These, when used with sugar, 
were not only highly nutritious and grateful to the sto- 
mach, but served the important purpose of dissolving and 
carrying off much of the earthy matter, unavoidably taken 
with the food. 

Water, and the different kinds of drink in which it en- 
ters, as tea, coffee, beer, &c, were also put under inter- 
dict by Mr. Rowbotham, as containing the constituents of 
bone. In answer to the question that might be asked, as 
to the means of allaying thirst, he stated that bis wife ex- 
perienced no thirst after she had entered upon the temper- 
ance system, except such as could be readily allayed by 
juicy fruits; and that this system agreed well with her 
health ; she felt cheerful, strong, and active, attended to 
her domestic duties, and performed active household 
labor, up to the very hour of her accouchement. 

Certificates from the attendant physician and nurse ac- 
companied these statements, showing the remarkable easy 
labor, and rapid convalescence, of Mrs. Rowbotham. 
Nor was the child a sufferer by this experiment ; for al- 
though small and soft when born, it soon grew to 
be a large, finely-formed, and perfectly healthy child. 
Thus proving, to the entire satisfaction of Mr. Rowbo- 
tham, the truth of the principle on which his theory was 
founded. 



12 CHILDBIRTH 

This experiment has terminated with equal success in 
several cases in this country, although the writer is not 
at liberty to mention names. 

The investigations of modern chemistry have shed a 
brilliant light upon many subjects hitherto considered ob- 
scure and incomprehensible. The vital principle of ani- 
mal heat is no longer a speculation — agriculture no longer 
an experiment ; while the advantages which many of the 
arts have derived from this science are almost invalua- 
ble ; by its light order is evolved out of chaos, and all 
the laws of matter discovered to be invariable and har- 
monious. 

With' all its splendid discoveries, however, modern 
chemistry has added little to our knowledge of physiology 
previous to the investigations of Liebig : to whose invalu- 
able work, on " Animal Chemistry," we must now look 
to elucidate the present subject. 

" The combinations of the chemist relate to the change 
of matter, forward and backward, to the conversion of 
food into the various tissues and secretions, and to their 
metamorphosis into lifeless compounds; his investigations 
ought to tell us what has taken place, and what can take 
place, in the body." 

Accordingly, from these investigations we learn, that 
the phosphate of lime and magnesia contained in the food 
and from thence conveyed into the blood, cannot be con- 
verted into cellular tissue, neither can these be consumed 
by the respiratory organs, but that a portion of them is 
deposited in the form of bone, and the residue, after per- 
forming the important purpose of keeping up the peristal- 
tic motion, is thrown out of the system. Hence, it ap- 
pears probable, that if only those articles of food contain- 
ing the least amount of the phosphate of lime or magne- 



CHILDBIRTH. 13 

sia were taken by pregnant women, the ossification of the 
foetus in-utero might be retarded in such a degree as to 
obviate the imminent danger at the period of parturition, 
so frequently fatal to either mother or child. The writer 
is perfectly aware that all reasoning apriora is without 
value, and that carefully conducted and well observed 
experiments only, can test the truth and utility of this 
principle. 

Meanwhile, the important question arises as to the ef- 
fect which this abnormal condition of the bones may have 
on the constitution of the offspring; as no mother would 
be justified in guarding herself against pain at the ex- 
pense of the health of her child ; for what are a few 
hours, or even days suffering to her, in comparison to a 
life of disease, debility, and pain to her offspring. 

It is well known that many of the most fatal diseases 
of infancy originate from a want of earthy matter in the 
bones ; as rickets, mollities-ossiana, or softening of the 
bones, and spina-biffida, a want of one or more of the 
arches of the vertebre, thereby allowing the contents of 
the spinal column to exude in the form of a tumor, which 
is almost always fatal. A knowledge of such facts 
should render every mother particularly careful of trans- 
mitting even a tendency to those diseases to her offspring. 
This un-ossifying system, therefore, may prove in the 
hands of the timid and ignorant a source of infinite mis- 
chief, in transmitting a weakly organized constitution, and 
thereby enfeebling and deteriorating the race. There 
are, however, many cases in which this system might prove 
highly beneficial ; it should at all events be resorted to, 
where there has been a succession of stillborn births, 
caused only by the large size of the foetus. 

There is, perhaps, no department of medical science which 
can boast of more excellent treatises than Midwifery. 
It is, therefore, much to be regretted that the many valu* 



14 CHILDBIRTH. 

able popular works, intended expressly for females, should 
meet with so little attention. The time, however, cannot 
be far distant, when a knowledge of the laws which gov- 
ern the human system under all circumstances, will be 
considered an indispensible branch of female education. 
Hitherto palliatives and curatives have been the principal 
means sought after and relied on ; but when more liberal 
and enlightened views obtain — when the cobwebs of false 
delicacy have been swept from society — when women are 
taught the importance of a knowledge of the organic 
laws, preventive and first principle will take their 
place. 

" The physical and organic laws," says Mr. Combe, 
(l when truly discovered, appear to the mind as institu- 
tions of the Creator ; wise and salutary in themselves, 
unbending in their operation, and universal in their ap- 
plication. They interest our intellectual faculties, and 
strongly impress our sentiments. The necessity of obey- 
ing them comes to us with all the authority of a mandate 
from God. While we confine ourselves to mere recom- 
mendations to beware of damp, to observe temperance, or 
to take exercise, without explaining the principle, the in- 
junction carries only the weight due to the authority of 
the individual who gives it, and is addressed to only two 
or three faculties — veneration and cautiousness, for in- 
stance, or self-love, in him who receives it. But if we 
be made acquainted with the elements of the physicial 
world, and with those of our organized system — with the 
uses of the different parts of the human body, and the 
conditions necessary to their healthy action — with the 
causes of their derangement, and the pains consequent 
thereon ; and if the obligation to attend to these condi- 
tions be enforced on our moral sentiments and intellect, 
as a duty which is imposed by the Creator, and which 
we cannot neglect without suffering punishment ; then 



CHILDBIRTH. 

the motives to observe the physical and organic laws, as 
well as the power of doing so, will be prodigiously in- 
creased. It is only by being taught the principle on 
which consequences depend, that we become capable of 
perceiving the invariahleness of the results of the physical 
and organic laws, acquire confidence in, and respect for, 
the laws themselves, and fairly endeavor to accommodate 
our conduct to their operation/' 

The important principles which govern the health of 
both mother and child during the period of gestation, are 
fully explained in that most useful and excellent work, 
" Combe on Infancy." 

This author, also, explains the effect of the mothers 
imagination and sentiments, on the mental constitution 
of her offspring — a subject of the deepest interest to 
mankind ; as on obedience or disregard to this important 
law of nature, depend the happiness or misery of the do- 
mestic circle ; the birthplace of the affections, the shrine 
of the heart. Prosperity may shower its brightest gifts on 
man — wealth and art may combine to beautify and embel- 
lish his habitation — science and literature may elevate his 
understanding and refine his taste- — the good and the wise 
may court his society— he may be exalted to the highest 
place in the gift of his countrymen : of what avail are all 
these advantages, if his home presents a scene of corroding 
anxiety, or humiliating mortification, caused by feeble, 
sickly, or inefficient and badly organized children 1 Not 
until the public mind is fully awakened to the importance 
of the laws which govern a healthy action of mind and 
body, and also the hereditary descent of intellectual and 
moral qualities, can domestic happiness be predicated to 
a moral certainty, or approximate to a more perfect state. 
That order and law govern all matter, animate and inani- 
mate, is too well established to admit of a doubt. Shall 
it then be said, that so important a subject as the physical 



16 CHILDBIRTH. 

and mental constitution of our children, is a mere matter 
of chance, the only depanment of creation not subject to 
fixed and invariable laws ? Forbid it, every just appre- 
ciation of the wisdom and goodness of a beneficent Crea- 
tor ! 

For the benefit of those who cannot procure the work 
just alluded to, (it being nearly out of print) the writer 
will extract from its pages much valuable counsel in re- 
gard to the subject under consideration. 

" The only circumstance which can explain or excuse 
the indiffence shown by many mothers to the state of their 
own health during pregnancy, is their entire ignorance of 
the injury which they thereby inflict on their future off- 
spring. Many a mother, who will not deny herself the 
temporary gratification of a simple desire or appetite on 
her own 'account, would be the first and firmest in resist- 
ing the temptation, if her reason was fully convinced, 
tha£ every transgression which she commits, diminishes 
in so far, the chances of health of the being whom she 
carries in her bosom. And such is unquestionably the 
fact." 

" A notion is very prevalent, that an unusual supply of 
nourishing food is required during pregnancy, on account 
of the rapid development of the new being in the maternal 
womb. In some instances in which the general health, 
digestive powers, and appetite improve during gestation, 
an increased allowance of food becomes necessary, and is 
productive of much advantage. But in the great majori- 
ty of cases, when no such improvement takes place, and 
the appetite is already more vigorous than the powers of 
digestion, nothing but mischief can follow from increased 
eating. 

" It is true that substance is expended on the develop- 
ment of the infant being in the mother's womb, but Na- 



CHILDBIRTH. 17 

ture herself has provided for that demand, by the suppres- 
sion of the periodical discharge to which they are at other 
times subject, and which ceases altogether when the age 
of child-bearing is past; and, therefore, when during 
pregnancy the health is good and the appetite is natural, 
there is no need whatever of increasing the quantity or al- 
tering the quality of the food which is found by experi- 
ence to agree with the constitution, and nothing but harm 
can result from attempting to " support the strength " 
by too nutritious a diet. 

" When, from mistaken views, a change is made from 
a plain and nourishing diet to full and generous living, 
and especially when the usual exercise is at the same 
time diminished, a state of fulness not less dangerous to 
the mother than injurious to the embryo, is apt to be in- 
duced, or is prevented only by the digestive powers 
giving way, which leads to much suffering from nausea, 
heartburn, flatulence, inordinate craving, disagreeable 
breath and perspiration, and other symptoms well known 
to mothers as incapable of cure until gestation is at an 
end. Where digestion continues unimpaired, and the 
superfluity of nourishment is taken into the system, a ful- 
ness and sense of oppression ensue, which infallibly lead 
to mischief, when not timely relieved either by nature 
or by art. Occasionally, bleeding from the nose or lungs, 
or from piles, removes the impending danger. At other 
times blood is purposely drawn from a vein to avert it ; 
but now and then it happens, that nature seeks relief, by 
attempting to re-establish the customary discharge from 
the womb, and if she is aided in her efforts by any acci- 
dental imprudence on the part of the parent, the attempt 
will be successful, and accompanied probably by a mis- 
carriage and a risk of life. In short, the fulness of sys- 
tem thus imprudently induced, must have vent some- 
where, and it will depend upon the existence of any local 



13 CHILDBIRTH. 

weakness or other accident, in what organ or in what way 
the vent shall be effected, and with what extent of danger 
it shall be accompanied. To the child, not less than to 
the parent, its consequences are injurious, not only as en- 
dangering premature birth, but as effecting the future 
soundness of its organization : and it therefore becomes a 
solemn moral duty of the mother, not to place herself 
voluntarily in circumstances which may not only 
defeat her fondest hopes of happiness, and leave her a 
prey to broken health and endearing regret, but perma- 
nently diminish the happiness of the offspring. 

" But, while avoiding one error, we must be careful 
not to run headlong into the other extreme, and sanction 
an insufficient diet. Many of the lower orders surfer 
grievously in this way, and from absolute inability to pro- 
cure nourishing food in due quantity, give birth to feeble 
and unhealthy children, whose whole life is a scene of 
suffering, although, fortunately, they do not survive long. 
This is, in truth, one cause of the physical inferiority of, 
and greater mortality among the working classes ; and as 
it almost necessarily leads to moral inferiority, as its re- 
sult, it is one of the points which eminently deserve the 
attention of the philanthropist and enlightened statesman.* 
As well may we expect fine fruit and rich harvests from 
an impoverished soil, as well-constituted children from 
parents exhausted by physical exertion, and insufficient 
food. It is in work-houses that the evil is seen in its 
most glaring form. These are peopled by the children 
of the lowest, most sickly, or most improvident parents. 
From birth they 'are the worst fed, and the most misera- 
bly clothed, and in consequence, their bodies are stunted 



* [" In this country, happily, the working classes do not surfer in 
the manner described in the text. They are in more danger of ex- 
cess, than deficiency of food.'' — B.] 



CHILDBIRTH. 19 

and weak, and their minds and morals impaired and de- 
graded. If the children in any work-house are contrasted 
with the children of even any common country school, 
their physical and moral inferiority is seen to be very 
marked, and in the expression of innate heartiness and 
enjoyment peculiar to early youth, the difference is still 
more striking. 

" It is naturally the children of the poor who suffer 
most from the inadequate nourishment of the parent during 
pregnancy ; but those of the higher classes also suffer, 
though in a different way. The system is duly nourished 
only when the proper food in itself is also properly di- 
gested : if the digestion be imperfect, no food, however 
nutritious, will afford a healthy sustenance. Many mo- 
thers m the higher classes, give birth to feeble and badly 
developed children, from inattention to this fact. Fond 
of indulging in every luxury, they eat unseasonably and 
largely, till the powers of the stomach are utterly ex- 
hausted, and digestion becomes so much impaired that 
the food ceases to be nutritious. As regards the infant, 
the result is the same, whether the want of nourishment 
arises from want of food or want of digestion ; and hence 
the duty so strongly incumbent upon the mother, of acting 
like a rational being, for her infant's sake, if not for her 
own. Morally considered, it is as culpable on her part, 
to starve the infant before birth, by voluntarily impairing 
her own power of nourishing it, as by directly refusing 
it food after it is born. 

" In all instances, the great aim ought to be, to act ac- 
cording to the laws of the human constitution, and, con- 
sequently, adopt the kind and quantity of nourishment to 
the wants of the individual. Following this rule, we 
shall find that while, in general, no increase is required 
during pregnancy, there are, nevertheless, many females 
who enjoy a higher degree of health in the married state, 



20 CHILDBIRTH. 

and especially during pregnancy, than they did before, 
and in whom the appetite becomes more acute, only be- 
cause digestion and the other organic functions are car- 
ried on with greater vigor. In such cases, an improved 
diet is not only safe, but natural and necessary ; and all 
that is required is, not to push it so far as to impair the 
amended tone, or oppress the system. The proper limit 
can, in general, be easily determined by a little atten- 
tion. So long as healthy activity of mind and body, ap- 
titude for exercise, and regularity in all the animal func- 
tions, continue unimpaired, there will be nothing to fear; 
but if oppression, languor, or other indications of constitu- 
tional disorder, begin to show themselves, no time should 
be lost in taking the hint, and adopting the necessary re- 
strictions.* 

" There is no period of life at which it is of so much 
consequence to observe moderation and simplicity of diet, 
and avoid the use of heating food and stimulants, as du- 
ring pregnancy. Not only is the general system then 
unusually susceptible of impressions and disordered by 
the slightest causes, but, in nervous constitutions, the 
stomach is the seat of a peculiar irritability, accompa- 
nied by a craving and capricious appetite, to which it re- 

* [Doctor Dewees, in his valuable " Treatises on the Physical and 
Medicinal Treatment of Children?' expresses himself on this point 
in the following language : He had just mentioned the subject of 
nausea and vomiting being such common symptoms in the early 
period of pregnancy. " Now do these not most emphatically declare 
that the system requires reduction, rather than an increase of fluids ? 
or why should this subduing process be instituted ? It certainly can- 
not be intended for any other purpose, since it is not only almost uni- 
versal, but highly important when it occurs, as it would seem to add 
much to the security of the foetus ; for it is a remark, as familiar as 
it is well grounded, that very sick women rarely miscarry ; while, on 
the contrary, women of very full habits are disposed to abortion, if 
exempt from this severe, but it would seem, important process." — B»l 



CHILDBIRTH. 21 

quires much good sense and self-denial on the part of the 
parent, to refrain from giving way. Dr. Eberle notices 
several remarkable instances in which indulgence in in- 
digestible articles of diet produced excruciating colic, fol- 
lowed by abortion, even so early as the fourth month. 
During the latter stages of pregnancy, the risk from this 
cause is greatly increased ; and, to long-existing intesti- 
nal derangement, produced by a redundant, mixed, he- 
terogeneous diet, the same author justly ascribes the ap- 
pearance of a peculiar and highly dangerous affection, 
resembling puerperal fever, which comes on soon after 
delivery, and is characterized by a remarkable sinking of 
the vital energies. In cases of this kind, the disorder of 
health, previous to parturition, is not so striking as to ar- 
rest attention, although perfectly obvious to experienced 
eyes ; and when, after delivery, danger declares itself, it 
is viewed with all the surprise and alarm of an unex- 
pected event, although, in reality, it might have been 
foreseen, and, to a considerable extent, guarded against 
by a well-conducted regimen, and due attention to the 
action of the bowels. 

" If the public mind were only sufficiently enlightened 
to act on the perception, that no effect can take place 
without some cause, known or unknown, preceding it, to 
which its existence is really due, many evils to which we 
are now subject, might easily be avoided. If, for exam- 
pie, women in childbed could be convinced from previous 
knowledge, that, as a general rule, the danger attending 
that state is proportioned to the previous sound or unsound 
condition of the system, and to its good or bad manage- 
ment at the time, and is not the mere effect of chance, 
they w T ould be much more anxious to find out, and suc- 
cessful in observing the laws of health, both for their own 
sakes, and for the sake of the future infant, than they 
now are, while ignorant of the influence of their own 



22 CHILDBIRTH. 

conduct. Accordingly, I entirely agree with Dr. Eberle, 
when he says that " the pregnant female, who observes 
a suitable regimen, will, caeteris paribus, always enjoy 
more tranquility, both of mind and body, and incur much 
less risk of injury to herself and child, than she, who 
giving a free rein to her appetite, indulges it to excess, 
or in the use of improper articles of food." 

On the subject of longings for extraordinary kinds of 
food, much caution ought to be exercised. Longings 
rarely occur in a healthy woman of a well-constituted 
mind. Indeed, they are almost peculiar to delicate, nerv- 
ous, irritable, and above all, unemployed women, who 
have been accustomed to much indulgence, and have no 
wholesome subject of thought or occupation to fill up their 
time. If they are indulged from the first, they gain 
strength by what they feed on ; the whole mind becomes 
centered on their contemplation, and the fancy is inces- 
santly excited to produce new whims for their gratifica- 
tion, to the infallible disturbance of the health of both 
mother and child. Longing is a disease of the brain and 
mind, much more than of the stomach ; and the way to 
cure it is to provide the mind with wholesome occupation, 
and the feelings with objects of higher interest, and to 
give the stomach the plain and mild food, which alone, 
in its weakened state, it is able to digest. In very ca- 
pricious and confirmed cases, it is sometimes better to 
yield temporarily ; but, even then, the main object, the 
means of cure, ought never to be lost sight of. 

" During pregnancy, the great aim, for the sake of 
both parent and child, ought to be to sustain the general 
health in its highest state of efficiency ; and in order to 
attain this, the mother ought to pursue her usual avoca- 
tions and mode of life, provided these be compatible with 
the laws of health. Regular daily exercise, cheerful 
occupation and society, moderate diet, pure air, early 



CHILDBIRTH. 23 

hours, clothing suitable to the season, and healthy activ- 
ity of the skin, are all more essential than ever, because 
now the permanent welfare of another being is at stake, 
in addition to that of the mother. But any of these, car- 
ried to excess, may become a source of danger to both 
mother and child. Dancing, riding, travelling over 
rough roads, and vivid exertions of mind, have often 
brought on abortion.* 

" For many years past, common sense and science 
have combined to wao-e war against custom and fashion 
on the subject of female dress, and particularly tight- 
lacing, and the use of stiff unyielding corsets ; but hith- 
erto with only partial success. Of late, however, a 
glimmering perception has begun to prevail, that the sub- 
ject for which the restraint is undergone may be more 
certainly attained by following the dictates of reason, 
than by physical compression ; and if this great truth 
shall make way, fashion will ultimately be enlisted on 
the right side, and the beautiful forms of nature be pre- 
ferred to the painful distortions of art. Already sounder 
views of the nature of the human frame, added to the 
lamentable lessons of experience, have convinced many 
mothers that the surest way to deform the figure and pre- 
vent gracefulness of carriage, is to enforce the use of 
stiff and tight stays ; and the most effectual way to im- 

* [Most practitioners of extended experience have met with cases 
of delicate women, who have only been able to avoid a miscarriage 
by taking regular exercise and attending to their domestic avocations, 
in place of confining themselves to the house, or even to their cham- 
ber, as they had been in the practice of doing before, but without its 
protecting them from the misfortune they so much dreaded. 

More harm is done by sudden efTorts, as in lifting, pulling, push- 
ing, stepping with a bound, so as to light only on the fore part of the 
foot, or by jumping, than by prolonged exercise, or even labor, though 
neither of these is proper for persons unaccustomed to them. — B.] 



24 CHILDBIRTH. 

prove both, is to obey the dictates of nature in preference 
to the inspirations of ignorance. It was not by the use 
of tight bands and stays the classic forms of Greece and 
Rome were fashioned ; and if we wish to see these pro- 
duced, we must secure freedom of action for both body 
and mind, as an indispensable preliminary. If the bod- 
ily organization be allowed fair play, the spine will grow 
up straight and firm, but, at the same time, graceful and 
pliant to the will, and the rest of the figure will develope 
itself with a freedom and elegance unattainable by any 
artificial means; while the. additional advantage will be 
gained, of the highest degree of health and vigor com- 
patible with the nature of the original constitution, 

" If, then, perfect freedom ought at all times to be pro- 
vided for in the construction of female dress, it is plain 
that during pregnancy it must be doubly imperative. 
And, accordingly it is well remarked by Dr. Eberle, < the 
custom of wearing tightly-laced corsets during gestation 
cannot be too severely censured. It must be evident to 
the plainest understanding, that serious injury to the 
health of both mother and child must result from a con- 
tinued and forcible compression of the abdomen, while 
nature is at work in gradually enlarging it for the accom- 
modation and development of the foetus. By this unnat- 
ural practice, the circulation of the blood throughout the 
abdomen is impeded — a circumstance which, together 
with the mechanical compression of the abdominal or- 
gans, is peculiarly calculated to give rise to functional 
disorder of the stomach and liver, as well as to hemor- 
rhoids, uterine hemorrhage, and abortion. The regular 
nourishment of the foetus, also, is generally impeded in 
this way ; a fact which is frequently verified in the re- 
markably delicate and emaciated infants born of mothers 
who have practised this fashionable folly during gesta- 
tion, It may be observed, that since the custom of wear- 



CHILDBIRTH. 25 

ing tightly-laced corsets has become general among fe- 
males, certain forms of uterine disease are much more 
frequent than they were sixteen or eighteen years 

ago.'* 

" Hence it ought to be the first duty of the young wife, 
who has reason to believe pregnancy has commenced, to 
tjke special care so to arrange her dress as to admit of 
the utmost freedom of respiration, and to prevent even 
the slightest compression of the chest or abdomen. 

" After these most judicious and forcible observations, I 
need only add, that the evils of tight-lacing do not end 
with the birth of the child. The compression further 
prevents the proper development of the breasts and nip- 
ples, and renders them unfit to furnish that nourishment 
on which the life of the infant may entirely depend ; and 
yet it is only when absolutely compelled to give way, 
that many mothers, as pregnancy advances, loosen their 
corsets sufficiently to admit of common breathing space, 
and remove the unnatural obstacles of steel or whale- 
bone, which Dr. Eberle has shown to be so injurious. 

" But although I strongly advocate the propriety of 
bringing up young girls without the use of such ill- 
judged support, I by no means recommend that those moth- 
ers, to whom long custom has rendered corsets necessary, 
should at once lay them aside. They ought, however, to 
be very careful to wear them sufficiently loose to admit 
of the free enlargement of the womb in an upward direc- 
tion, and to substitute thin whalebone blades for the stiff 
steel in common use. If this precaution be neglected, 
both mother and infant may be seriously injured, and 
ruptures or other local ailments induced. To afford the 
necessary support, a broad elastic bandage worn round 
the body, but not too tight, will be of great service ; but 

* Eberle on the Diseases and Physical Education of Children, Cin- 
cinnati!, 1833, p, 9, - 



26 CHILDBIRTH. 

every approach to absolute pressure should be scrupu- 
lously avoided. The Romans were so well aware of the 
mischief caused by compression of the waist during ges- 
tation, that they enacted a positive law against it ; and 
Lycurgus, with the same view, is said to have ordained a 
law compelling pregnant women to wear very wide and 
loose clothing.* ^ 

" In regard to regular exercise in the open air, the 
greatest attention is requisite on the part of the mother. 
Nothing contributes more essentially than this to a sound 
state of health during gestation, and to a safe and easy 
recovery after delivery. With ordinary care walking 
may be continued almost to the last hour, and with excel- 
lent effect upon all the functions. Hard riding on horse- 
back, dancing, and every kind of violent exertion, ought, 
however, to be scrupulously avoided ; as also fatigue, 
damp, cold, and late hours. The early part of the day 
ought to be selected in preference, especially in winter, 
as there is always a degree of dampness at sunset which 
is unfavorable to health. Riding in an open carriage is 
a very useful addition to walking, but ought never to 
supercede it. I have seen even delicate women pass 
through the whole period of pregnancy and delivery with- 
out a single bad symptom, merely from scrupulous but 
cheerful observance of the laws of exercise and health ; 
and it cannot be doubted that the degree of danger attend- 
ing it depends very much upon the mother herself. 
Childoearing is a natural and not a morbid process ; and 
in the facility with which healthy and regular-living women 

[* Beauty, grace, cheerfulness, a good temper itself, are all suffer- 
ers from this practice of lacing and wearing corsets. The editor 
may be excused from referring on this occasion to his work, entitled 
" Health and Beauty y " in which this subject is examined, together 
with all the other causes which influence the form and carriage. 
—Bell.] 



CHILDBIRTH. 27 

pass through it, we have abundant evidence that the Creator 
did not design it to he necessarily a time of suffering and 
danger. Where the mode of life and the habitual occu- 
pations of the mother are rational, the more nearly she can 
adhere to them during pregnancy, the better for herself, 
and consequently the better also for her infant. 

66 Cleanliness and fresh air are important aids to health 
at all times, and doubly necessary during gestation. 
Hence the propriety of having recourse to a tepid bath 
every few days, especially in the case of females of the 
middling and higher classes, in whom the nervous system 
is unusually excitable. It promotes the healthy action 
of the skin, soothes the nervous excitement, prevents in- 
ternal congestion, and is in every way conducive to health. 
But it must not be either too warm, too long continued, or 
taken too soon after meals. For the cautions which its 
use requires, I must refer the reader to my former work, 
as it would be out of place to repeat them here.* 

" Other circumstances might be mentioned as influenc- 
ing the mother's health, and indirectly that of the child ; 
but as they have reference to her only, in common with 
other individuals, and therefore come under the head of 
general laws of health, I need not now enlarge upon 
them. Many sensible people, who have not thought on 
the subject, may be surprised at the earnestness with 
which I have thus recommended attention to the mother's 
state as the surest way of influencing the health of the 
child ; but let them observe and reflect upon what is pass- 
ing around them, and they will meet with many proofs 
of the principle which I have been enforcing, and soon be 
induced to admit its importance." 

All the authors, in this department of medical science, 



* Principles of Physiology applied to Health and Education, chap. 
III.— [Also, Bell on Baths and Mineral Waters.] 



28 CHILDBIRTH. 

of the present age, concur in opinion, as to the importance 
of regimen during the period of gestation. The following 
remarks coincide perfectly with the preceding, and are 
worthy of high consideration, as eminating from the best 
possible authority — " Dr. Gilman, Professor of Obstetrics, 
in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons." 

''-Regimen of Pregnant Women. — This is a most impor- 
tant subject, but physicians are not as frequently con- 
sulted about it, as they might be with advantage, perhaps 
— because, when consulted they make light of it. 

" Diet. — This should be light, not very nutritious, and 
rather laxative. Nature in most cases points out this 
course ; the appetite is for fruits, vegetables, and the light- 
er meats, while gross food, such as goose, pork, fat, &c. 
are loathsome. Follow here the dictates of nature, let 
the patient take vegetables, and especially fruits, freely, 
and abstain from gross articles, from highly seasoned 
meats, and from stimulating drinks. These rules are 
most appropriate for the first four months ; after quicken- 
ing, when the digestion improves, a rather more nutritious 
diet may be allowed, but as the patient approaches the 
term of her gestation, the diet should again be light. Dr. 
Delafield, my predecessor in the professorship of obstet- 
rics, gives it as the result of his experience, that women 
generally do best, when before they fall into labor, the 
system is reduced to a little below par, for this purpose 
he lowers the diet, and gives occasional laxatives during 
the ninth month. This, as has been said, is an excellent 
practice. Articles likely to produce flatulency are to be 
avoided at this time. 

"Influence of Atmosphere in Pregnancy. — This is well 
established ; cold, rainy weather, and low, damp mias- 



CHILDBIRTH. 29 

matic localities, have been recognized since the time of 
Hippocrates, as disturbing pregnancy and causing abor- 
tion. To the influence of the atmosphere is to be attrib- 
uted the frequency of abortion, miscarriage, or rather 
mishap in pregnancy, by which some years are signalized. 
Miasma is, probably, the unsuspected cause of many 
abortions, and when this unpleasant accident recurs fre- 
quently to a woman residing in a low, damp, or miasmatic 
district, she should remove during pregnancy. 

" Exercise.— This should be strongly insisted ; none of 
the means of preserving the health of pregnant women 
are more valuable than this. It should always be taken 
in the open air, and carried so far as to produce fatigue, 
but not absolute exhaustion. As to the kind of exercise, 
walking is best, riding in an open carriage will do well ; 
horseback exercise is not to be permitted, unless the pa- 
tient be very well accustomed to it, ride well, and have 
a gentle horse. 

• Nothing is so likely to overcome the persistent in- 
somnia,* with which some women are troubled towards 
the* close of pregnancy, as to exercise in the open air, 
carried to fatigue ; this, with warm-bath, will do more 
than all the anodynes you can give. 

" Dress,— -The great thing to be avoided is tightness. 
Anything that compresses the body, and obstructs circu- 
lation, does harm. Inflammation of the mammae is 
sometimes excited by the exposure of the parts to cold, in 
consequence of the dress being too low. This should be 
avoided, and the patient induced to dress decently. 

" Pregnant women should never be allowed to witness 
any scene that will be likely, very powerfully to excite, 
alarm, or distress them — the evil influence of rash impres 

* Sleeplessness, 



30 CHILDBIRTH. 

sions is well established. Even the more exciting pleas- 
ures of life, they should partake of sparingly, as balls, 
parties, theatrical exhibitions, &c." 

While thus showing the physical causes and external 
circumstances which affect the health of pregnant women, 
we must not overlook the moral causes of evil to which 
this condition is peculiarly susceptible. During the first 
months of gestation, and immediately after parturition, 
(owing in the latter case to the severe depletion of the 
vascular system,) the nervous temperament predominates, ' 
and the mind is thus rendered susceptible in the highest 
degree to impressions from moral causes. An unkind 
word, a cold or severe look, or even apparent neglect, 
will frequently, in this state of health, derange the whole 
physical system, prostrate the most promising state of 
convalescence, and set medical skill at defiance. Nor 
does the evil end here. A deep sense of injury and 
wrong is engendered, and the hitherto sweet sources of 
domestic happiness, affection and confidence, are embit- 
tered for life. If, however, in this morbid condition of 
the system, unkindness and neglect are more keenly felt, 
so, also, the kind offices of affection are doubly appre- 
ciated. 

The injurious effects of moral impressions on the health, 
are thus forcibly described by Dr. James Johnson : 

" The moral impressions on the brain and nerves are 
infinitely more injurious than the physical impressions of 
food and drink, however improper, on the stomach. The 
multifarious relations of man with the world around him, 
in the present era of social life, are such as must inevit- 
ably keep up a constant source of perturbation, if not irri- 
tation ; and this trouble of mind is not solely, or even 
chiefly, expended on the organ of the mind, viz., the brain, 
and its appendages, the nerves, but upon the organs of the 



CHILDBIRTH. SI 

body most intimately connected with the brain— namely, 
the digestive organs, including the stomach, liver, and 
bowels. 

" Let us exemplify this. A man receives a letter com- 
municating a piece of astounding intelligence — great loss 
of property, or death of a child, wife, or parent. The 
mind, the brain, the nervous system, are all agitated and 
disturbed. But the evil does not rest here. The organs 
not immediately under the will, or directly connected with 
the intellectual portion of our frame — the organs of diges- 
tion, circulation, nutrition, &c, are all consequently dis- 
turbed, and their functions disordered; the tongue turns 
white, the appetite fails, and the complexion grows sallow. 
These corporeal maladies are those which naturally at- 
tract most the sufferer's attention. He seldom compre- 
hends, or even suspects, the nature and agency of the 
moral cause. He flies to physic ; and it may very easily 
be conceived that he generally flies to it in vain !" 

The following letter from Mrs. P. S. Wright was not 
received in time for the work for which it was intended ; 
but as the facts and observations apply equally to the 
present work, the writer takes the liberty of giving it en- 
tire ; although perfectly aware that some of the opinions, 
being in advance of the age, may prove unpopular : 

July 3, 1844. 

Dear Madam : It was with sincere pleasure that I 
learned from yourself that you were to republish and en- 
large your valuable work, on the transmission of parental 
qualities. That the circulation of that work should be 
greatly extended is my sincere desire, and in compliance 
with your request, I send you a few facts which have 
come within the range of my own observation. 

That the subject of which your work treats is one of 
immense importance to the rising generation, no one can 



32 CHILDBIRTH. 

dispute ; but that the child takes more in its mental con- 
stitution and temperament of the father than the mother, 
I am somewhat inclined to think. That the physical 
constitution is derived or controlled almost exclusively by 
the mother, appears to me self-evident. 

Physiologists reason from analogy ; and the facts estab- 
lished with regard to some animals, such as in their phy- 
sical organization most resemble man, may be considered 
as finger-marks pointing to some similar law which gov- 
erns the human family. Combe (I think it is, although I 
have not the author here to refer to) says that in the gen- 
eration of the horse, in order to produce vigorous and 
sprightly offspring, the sire should be actively exercised. 
Hence we may properly reason, that if a father is dull, 
heavy, and stupid habitually, or even at the time of gen- 
eration, the child will partake of his mental temperament 
to a greater or less degree. I will here cite one or two 
facts in elucidation of my position. A mother of my 
acquaintance, now somewhat advanced in years, gave 
me the following relation : 

" I was/' said she, " married at the age of twenty-five, 
inheriting from both my parents a most vigorous consti- 
tution. My husband was four years my senior, and alike 
blessed with most perfect health. But we started wrong 
after all, for we both determined to be rich, let what 
would come. We occupied a large farm, and I in my 
eagerness to amass wealth, which has been as a canker 
to my happiness, would never employ help for a day, 
frequently doing all the labor for a family of twenty 
during the period of gestation. My first children were 
twins. My living at the time was what is commonly 
called the plain living of farmers, but what I now con- 
sider as much too luxurious for health. 

" Previous to my accouchement a cutaneous eruption 
appeared, on my face, neck; and hands, together with 



CHILDBIRTH. 33 

swelling of the joints. This I looked upon as the effect 
of heat, which would soon pass off; but what was my 
disappointment, at the birth of my babes, to have present- 
ed to me two emaciated little beings, covered with the 
same eruption, which proved to be scrofula induced by 
heating my blood with wrong living. I had most ardently 
desired children, and my love of riches gave way to my 
maternal feelings ; but in less than four months both the 
little sufferers were carried to their resting-place. I re- 
garded myself as stricken of God ; I sought to submit to 
my trying fate as a Christian, for I did not regard myself 
as having had anything to do with my affliction. A third, 
fourth, and fifth child followed, diseased in the same way, 
and only lingered for a short period. At length my de- 
sires were gratified in everything except living children. 
I wept and prayed much for a child that might bless our 
old age. 

At length the illness of a beloved parent called me to 
a different scene, and during almost the entire period of 
pregnancy with my sixth child, I was occupied in her 
care, Being no longer actively engaged, having scarcely 
sufficient exercise for my health, my mind turned natu- 
rally to investigating the causes that had co-operated to 
produce such painful results, if causes there were. Does 
God, I asked, arbitrarily punish us in this world for in- 
fringements of his moral law 1 jf so, of what use is the 
atonement or death of Christ*? Then first dawned upon 
my mind the belief that there were natural as well as 
moral laws given to govern us, and that an infringement 
of them would be followed by a just punishment. The 
period of parturition arrived. Conceive, if you can, the 
joy and gratitude of my heart to find myself the mother 
of a fair and beautiful boy, which still lives to bless and 
comfort me ; but although he lives, and the three daugh- 
ters which followed him, yet they too partake of the feeble 



34 CHILDBIRTH. 

constitution which I have entailed upon them ; for my 
own health had become greatly impaired during my 
struggle after riches." 

I will here give my own observations of the family in 
question, The mother was a woman of fine mental and 
moral organization, with the exception of her large acquis- 
itiveness, and of an active nervous temperament. Her 
superior mental endowments are proven by her having 
thought so correctly, more than twenty years since. The 
father had retained his fine natural constitution, but he 
was an exceeding dull heavy man of the lymphatic tem- 
perament. The children, particularly the daughters, 
were much like the father in mind, and it was often re- 
marked, that were it not for the broad fields, and accumu- 
lating interest money, they would be a very dull family. 
Another illustration proving the almost unlimited con- 
trol of a mother over the physical organization of her 
child, I will here cite : Mrs. B. a lady moving in a fash- 
ionable circle in one of our large cities, possessing a fine 
natural constitution and good mental organization, became 
enciente soon after marriage. Wishing to enjoy society 
as long as possible, she habitually laced herself so tight 
as to conceal her situation for six or. seven months. 

Her three first children were sickly and weak, weigh- 
ing not more than three or four pounds at birth. In the 
first period of gestation with her fourth child, an accident 
occurred which prevented h£r desiring to enter society, 
consequently her corsets were abandoned, and as she 
was cut off from the brilliant festivities of the winter, she 
resorted to reading. I should have mentioned that she 
had suffered exceedingly in parturition. Her husband, a 
man of excellent sense, placed in her hands physiological 
works, and she, seeing her gross neglects of duty, resolved 
to fit herself for the high sphere of a mother. She fol- 
lowed the light as she received it, and the result was a 



CHILDBIRTH, 35 

great diminution of suffering in giving birth to a fine boy, 
weighing nine pounds. 

She often remarks that it would be less trouble to train 
half a dozen such than one like her first children. Oh, 
said she, (for she had the tender feelings of a mother) I 
have done to those little ones, an injury that a whole life 
can never repair ! * * That the world is 

to be regenerated, physically, mentally, morally, is a the- 
ory that has ever appeared most delightful to my mind ; 
not that I have ever expected any miracles wrought to 
bring it about, but that it would be done by natural 
means, and that the investigation of subjects treated of in 
this work are to do much towards accomplishing this ob- 
ject, I have not a doubt. 

But there is one exceedingly delicate point which, in the 
first edition, is not alluded to, and as it has so strong an 
influence upon the purity of unborn generations, I feel 
myself constrained to give it least a passing notice : 

The father can have no influence directly over the 
foetus after its formation ; it is then the mother's exclusive 
prerogative to nourish and cherish the being she carries. 
What character then, should the father desire to fix upon 
his child ? Should it be that of gross licentiousness ? Nay ! 
Then let the father as well as the mother be pure-hearted. 
Let both utterly repudiate t"he almost unlimited marked 
licentiousness that now prevails. Let them nev^r come 
together, but for the great purpose for wln^h marriage 
was at first instituted. 

Let these principles be adopted and carried out, to- 
gether with a course of living, and the great work of pu- 
rifying the world is accomplished. Hitherto reformers 
have been dabbling with effects, while the great cause 
or causes have been left untouched. In proof of the last 
principle advanced, let me cite a case just in point : 

J. P. finished early his college course, and with a ra- 



36 CHILDBIRTH. 

pidity surpassing even the most sanguine hopes of his 
friends, acquired the profession of law. The evening that 
he was admitted to the bar saw him the husband of a 
lovely and pure-hearted woman. He rose in his profes- 
sion with a rapidity unequalled, but his wife drooped in 
spirits and health, her happiness had been evanescent as 
the dew, for she had too late learned that her husband, 
like his father, was a profligate, licentious man. A few 
months previous to the birth of their son he had abandoned 
the young and tender wife. That son. at the age of nine- 
teen, when I first knew him, was the most briliant young 
man in mind, the most noble in form and feature of any 
person I had ever known, but he was pursuing a reckless 
licentious course, and was self indulgent in all his appe- 
tites, to a degree almost unparalleled. This child was 
trained, with the exception of proper physical training, 
(and that was the great point which ruined him) with great 
care. Often after receiving a letter from his mother, in 
which she gave excellent advice, and much religious 
council and exhortation, have I known him to shut him- 
self up for days, and fast and pray, and weep like an in- 
fant over his transgressions. I have heard him make the 
most solemn promises iefore God of entire reformation. 
Again and again, I have seen this strong man bowed for 
^ays to the very earth under a sense of his transgressions. 

But when he went forth it was to eat and drink, and 
again to go out and commit the same sins, perhaps to a 
more fearful extent. 

Now, did not that father stamp his character upon his 
child most perfectly. The mother was a noble, highly- 
gifted woman, but the baser passions of the father were 
stronger than the moral ones of both. But had one-hali 
of the study of the mother been directed to acquiring a 
knowledge of the laws of nature, she might have saved 
him much suffering ; she might have given to his consti 



CHILDBIRTH. 37 

tution a shield that would have protected him from temp- 
tations to which he was exposed. For she would have 
taught him, that by living on a mild unstimulating diet, 
together with bathing, air, and exercise, those baser 
passions might be controlled, and brought into due sub- 
jection to his higher nature. But ignorantly she fed the 
volcanic fires in him, which in after life she vainly sought 
to quench. 

She loved, when her fair boy came home from school, 
to have something prepared to please and pamper his vi- 
tiated appetite. Thus she, like thousands of others, took 
the most sure means to prevent an answer to her daily, 
nay, almost hourly prayer, that God would keep pure 
her son. Would that parents, when they surrounded their 
luxurious boards, furnished with tea, coffee, flesh, meats, 
condiments, &c. and lift up their voices, and ask of God 
to bless that food to the strengthening of their bodies, and 
then rise with those bodies stimulated and unnaturally 
excited, and their spirits grovelling and fleshly, could but 
see their inconsistency. To a mind truly enlightened, 
such scenes are most revolting. It savors strongly of 
pagan idolatry. It is at least mocking God with lip-ser- 
vice, while the heart is so debased, low, and sensual, that 
the higher natures are dormant, their religion sensualism. 
Their God is like themselves. 

I have no hope for the purifying of the world, but 
through those who have learned to look at these subjects 
n their true light. 

Yours, with sincere respect, 

P. S. W. 

In the treatment of so important a subject as that of 
alleviating human suffering, it were inexcusable to over- 
look any system, however new or unpopular, which has 
in view this important object. Hydropathy, or the water 
cure, therefore, claims our particular attention. 



38 CHILDBIRTH. 

This system, however, merit's consideration not only 
on account of its inherent principles of truth and practi- 
cal utility, but also on account of the high character and 
talent enlisted in its dissemination throughout Europe 
and our own country. 



The following cases, taken from the " Water-Cure 
Journal," show the favorable influence which this treat- 
ment exerts in pregnancy and child-bearing : 

WATER-CURE IN CHILD-BEARING. 

The following remarkable case might by many be reck- 
oned as one forming an exception to the general rule, as to 
what would be the general result under similar circum- 
stances. In reality, striking as the case is, it is only an 
exemplification of what has frequently been proved, that it 
is possible for women of ordinary health so to live that 
childbirth and the period of pregnancy can be rendered 
comparatively free from pain and suffering. 

A lady of this city, whose name from motives of deli- 
cacy, we are not at liberty to mention, of 17 years of age, 
small form, with very good constitution, was lately with 
child, and passed through the whole period as follows : 
She took regularly a shower bath every morning, exer- 
cised every day, wet or dry, in the open air, and when by 
any means, the amount of exercise was considerably less 
than common, a quick bath was taken before dinner, and 
regularly a sponge or rubbing bath was used before going 
to rest. Sitz baths were taken daily and the body bandage 
worn much of the time. No permanent chill was allowed 
to take place. The evening sitz bath seemed to have a 
decided effect in causing sound rest. The bowels were 



CHILDBIRTH. 39 

kept free by clysters of cold water whenever these were 
necessary. Very plain vegetable and farinaceous food 
and fruits constituted the sole diet. The meals were li^ht, 
and for three months previous to confinement, the supper 
was always omitted, so that only two light meals were 
taken daily and no food between times. Drinking of 
water is a powerful means to reduce the inordinate crav- 
ing appetite with which many are afflicted in childbear- 
ing. In the case of this lady no other drink than pure soft 
Croton water was taken during the whole time. 

As the expected time drew near, one morning while in 
the sitting bath labor commenced. The pains were prompt, 
and in about twenty minutes a fine healthy child was 
born. In about ten minutes more the after-birth came 
away, followed with but little flowing of blood. The pa- 
tient was allowed to rest a short time, after which the 
body was sponged over and quickly made dry and com- 
fortable. Wet cloths were laid upon the breasts to pre- 
vent inflammation or undue swelling of the parts*: A wet 
bandage was also placed about the abdomen covered with 
a dry one, so as to be of comfortable temperature. The 
sponging, rubbing and bandages were the means of re- 
ducing the feverish excitement caused by labor, and of 
soothing the body in a remarkable degree, so that sweet 
and quiet sleep soon followed. On the third day, water 
having been used as the case seemed to require in the 
mean time, the woman walked in the open air without in- 
jury, but on the contrary with benefit. Daily exercise, 
however, was previously taken, in the sick room, which 
was at all times kept well aired. 

In this remarkable case there was not a single scar left 
upon the body, it being the first child, and the amount of 
suffering was by far less than is often experienced in mere 
menstruation, by women who do not bathe regularly and 
adopt a generally correct hygenic course. Physiologic 



40 CHILDBIRTH. 

eally as well as morally, "wisdom's ways are ways of 
pleasantness," and happy is that mother who understands 
Nature's laws, and who has in them a confidence suffi- 
cient to live accordingly. 

It may be objected in reference to the above case, that 
it would be unsafe for most females to attempt to carry 
out a similar course to the one described. This is not 
true. Every individual, old or young, sick or well, and 
of either sex, should have at least, a daily bath. Who 
would think of leaving for a single day the face and 
hands unwashed 1 Those who have adopted daily bath- 
ing, know well the comfort and advantages arising from 
it. Nor is a rigid vegetable, farinaceous and fruit diet, 
as was used in the above case, a dangerous one as many 
suppose. On the contrary, such a diet judiciously select- 
ed, is highly conducive to bodily vigor and comfort, and 
renders one in all cases far less liable to disease of every 
kind. All who will in every respect take a judicious 
course, similar to the one described, will as certainly as 
the sun shines, render their sufferings in child bearing, 
very much less than by any other possible means that 
can be adopted, and in most cases, so great will be the 
benefit derived, that comparatively speaking, childbear- 
ing will be unattended with suffering— be without pain. 

The condition of the child in this case, was not less re- 
markable than that of the mother. It was healthy and 
vigorous, and as a natural result was far less liable to 
disease than children generally are. It is not at all nat- 
ural for one half of the race to die under five years of 
age. If mothers and children were universally managed 
as in the case above, mortality of infants and children 
w T ould be comparatively unknown. 



CHILDBIRTH. 41 



CHILDBEARING 



"Of no one thing relating to physiology and medical 
treatment, have those particularly interested, heen' so 
ignorant as that indicated in the above caption. Woman 
may study and know all the fashions and frivolities of 
the day, and the art of perverting everything furnished 
us for daily sustenance, by the All Good ; but to know 
why and wherefore she suffers sorrow and pain and an- 
guish and often death in the advent of a new being upon 
our earth, is not to be thought of by any but a man mak- 
ing a profession of physiological knowledge, which the 
Indian woman of the forest would cause him to blush and 
hang his head in shame for. Every woman ought to 
know enough of the laws of her own physical being and 
of generation, to avoid and prevent the cause of the evils 
so generally attendant upon childbearing. And \o show 
that it is possible to avoid these evils, just to the extent 
that she conforms to the physiological law of purity and 
health, 1 will give you a fact. 

" Mrs. . about eight years since, had her atten- 
tion directed to the subject of physiological truth and re- 
form, and from that time has followed a generally cor- 
rect course with regard to diet and general regimen. 
During this time she has bathed daily. Becoming with 
child the past year, she continued daily bathing the whole 
period of gestation to the day of her confinement • and 
the result was most happy. That which is to most wo- 
men an hour of unutterable torture, was passed by her 
with comparatively no pain or suffering. Her husband's 



42 CHILDBIRTH. 

knowledge of anatomy and physiology was all-sufficient, 
and the presence of a physician was not required ; nei- 
ther were all the old ladies in the house and neighbor- 
hood called in to embarrass the patient with their pre- 
sence and officious interference. It being early in the 
morning, no one in the house was aroused or disturbed, 
and quietude in the room, with no one present but the 
husband, proved very favorable. Instead of castor oil or 
drugs, cold water was the only thing given to mother 
and child, and both were thoroughly bathed in tepid wa- 
ter. The mother was not confined to her bed even a 
whole day, and on the second day arose and bathed her- 
self. In less than two weeks from the bu'th of the child, 
the mother and infant rode thirty-six miles ; and in three 
weeks went a journey of four hundred miles, with no in- 
convenience. As the mother did not inherit constitutional 
health adapted to produce so favorable a result, what but 
a strict regard to bathing and conformity to the physio- 
logical law in diet and dress could have produced such a 
result ? She has lived for the last eight years on a fari- 
naceous and fruit diet exclusively, abjuring tea, coffee 
and flesh-meat. And she is confident that the use of 
water as a beverage exclusively, and daily bathing, were 
the most efficient means used. Its soothing and invigor- 
ating power, after confinement, was very great." 



INFLAMMATION & SWELLING OF BKEASTS. 



" On the evening of the third day after my wife's first 
accouchement, I came home from Guy's Hospital, where 
I had been detained since morning, and found her groan- 
ing and weeping with intense pain, the breasts red and 



CHILDBIRTH. 43 

enormously enlarged, which the frightened nurse was 
vehemently rubbing with brandy and oil. The skin was 
excessively hot and dry, and the pulse was leaping along 
at the rate of 120. It was in the month of January— so I 
walked into the street with a pail, which I filled with 
snow, and bringing it into the sick room, I piled a heap of 
it over both breasts, continually adding fresh snow as it 
melted. In a very few minutes the milk spun out in 
streams, to the distance of more than a foot, and the tears 
of torture were at once changed for those of pleasure, 
accompanied by that hysterical sobbing, which is the 
common result of a sudden transition from intense suffer- 
ing to perfect ease. The mere absence of pain in these 
cases takes all the characters of the most delicious and 
positive pleasurable sensations. In half an hour the in- 
flamation had subsided, the breasts had become comjmra- 
lively flaccid, the fever had entirely subsided, and not 
only all danger, but all inconvenience, had utterly van- 
ished. But for this timely succor, suppuration must have 
supervened in both breasts, and large abscesses would 
have been the inevitable consequence." — Dr. Ed. Johnson. 

Dr. Shew of this city informs the writer that he has 
never known of an instance in which this painful affection, 
swelling, or caking as it is called, of the breasts, could 
not be wholly prevented ; that is, so that no troublesome 
effects of the kind would follow childbirth. Dr. Shew's 
mode is to direct females, some days before labor is ex- 
pected, to make the application of wet bandages to the 
breasts, these cloths to be of a temperature suited to the 
feeling of comfort in the case, and to be applied as fre- 
quently and continuously as is necessary to keep down 
inflammation. He always in every case directs these 
bandages to be applied immediately after labor, whether 
there is any undue inflammation or not. To prevent 



44 CHILDBIRTH. 

evaporation, the bandages are to be covered with dry 
flannel. They not only have a soothing effect upon the 
breasts, and act to prevent inflammation, but aid also in 
causing a healthy and natural secretion of milk. In cases 
of sore nipples, it may at times, be necessary to use some 
mechanical means to shield the effected or painful parts, 
and perhaps some adhesive substance or plaster to keep 
the cracked surfaces in a favorable situation for healing ; 
yet nothing is so good for healing as pure clean water 
rightly applied ; and in any case where the cracked parts 
naturally remain in a good situation for becoming healed, 
and are not subject by motion to have the cracked surfaces 
re-exposed to the atmosphere, clean wet cloths are alone 
sufficient, and also the best. _ 

To prevent that extreme and troublesome nervousness 
with which child-bearing females are sometimes troubled, 
Dr. Shew recommends that wet bandages be worn fre- 
quently, and especially at night. He relates the follow- 
ing case : A lady of extremely irritable nerves, having 
unfortunately a variety of moral causes acting to increase 
that nervous irritability, as well as too much and irregu- 
lar physical exertion while pregnant, found it exceedingly 
difficult to obtain anything like sound and refreshing 
sleep. A persistent nervous headache was also at times 
present. The lady had been in the daily habit of shower- 
bathing, but this headache had at one time become so 
severe, that the bathing increased it, as is sometimes the 
case in such instances. To prevent this severe headache, 
and to cause sleep, the patient was directed to have a 
heavy night-dress well wrung out of cold water, together 
with cold bandages applied to the head, and the body 
warmly wrapped in flannel blankets, with warm applica- 
tions to the feet, as indicated by the feelings of comfort. 
In a very short time after being enveloped, she declared 
that the headache wholly left her, and, as is common in 



CHILDBIRTH. 45 

such applications, a sound night's rest was enjoyed. In 
the morning the shower-bath was taken as usual ; and 
by wearing wet bandages over the whole body each night, 
well bound on with woollen shawls, the headache and 
nervousness were prevented, notwithstanding the unfavor- 
able causes mostly remained. 

The daily shower-bath and sitting-bath are highly re- 
commended in cases of pregnancy, as producing a most 
excellent effect. Clysters of water, either warm or cold, 
are also to be frequently taken, to keep up a natural ac- 
tion of the bowels. The following directions for their 
application are taken from " Dr. Shew's Water-Cure. " 



CLYSTERS. 



" Cold or tepid water injections constitute an important 
part of the treatment of pregnancy. " The bowels can 
at any time be easily kept free, and the evils and un- 
pleasantness of constipation, thus be at once removed. 
This application is also of great service in all bowel com- 
plaints. Severe diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera morbus 
and cholic, can often be speedily arrested by this appli- 
cation alone. In inflammation of the bowels it is of most 
signal benefit. The author has, in different instances, 
given immediate relief in this disease, when the bowels 
had been for days obstinately closed, resisting the action 
of the most powerful medicines. 

" This application should be made with an instrument, 
by which no air will be introduced into the parts. Air 
often causes pain. It should always be carefully ex- 
pelled by pouring the water through the instrument a few 
times before it is inserted. 



^ CHILDBIRTH, 

" The quantity of water to be used will vary. As much 
as can be retained, be it more or less, can be taken. 
The temperature is to be made according to the feelings 
of comfort, never too warm or too cold. Many take cold 
water. 

" Some have a prejudice against this application, think- 
ing that it will weaken the bowels like cathartic medi- 
cine or cathartic clysters, but this is not true. Pure 
water, rightly used in this way, strengthens. When con- 
stipation proceeds from too great a degree of internal 
heat, cold water injections are the safest and most effi- 
cient remedy." 



SITTING BATH 



f Pregnant women receive much benefit from a constant 
use of this bath. " A small tub of sufficient size, set 
upon a very low stool, or anything by which it may be 
raised a few inches, is quite sufficient. Unpainted wood 
is the best material, metal being unpleasant and cold. 
The water is used from one to five or six inches deep. 
The length of time this bath is used, varies from a few 
minutes to two .fcours or more. To avoid exposure to 
cold, it is best to uncover only the part of the person to- 
be exposed to the water. This bath is to Priestnitz of so 
much importance, that it is prescribed to nearly or quite 
every patient. " It has the effect of strengthening the 
nerves, of drawing the blood and humors from the head, 
chest, and abdomen, and of relieving pain and flatulency, 
and is of the utmost value to those of sedentary habits. 
It is sometimes well to take a foot bath, tepid or cold, at 
the same time. If a large quantity of cold water were 
used in this bath, it would remain cold too long, and thus 



CHILDBIRTH. ^ 

drive the blood to the head and upper parts of the body, 
which might be very injurious ; but the small quantity 
of water used at once becomes warm, and thus admits 
of speedy re-action. In some local diseases of the lower 
parts, where there is inflammation, and the cold water 
feels most agreeable, the water is frequently changed. 
If there is any inclination to head-ache, or too much heat 
in the head, a cold bandage upon the forehead or temples 
is good. It is often well to rub the abdomen briskly du- 
ring this bath. 

" The sitz bath may be used by any person, whether 
in health or otherwise, without the slightest fear of taking 
cold. Let those subject to giddiness, head-aches, or con- 
gestion of blood in the upper regions, try this, and they 
will at once perceive its utility. 5 '' 

In endeavoring to unfold useful truths in the language 
of reason, the writer has felt no apprehension of offending 
the natural delicacy of any well constituted mind. Ac- 
tuated, also, by a deep sense of the misery arising from 
the prevailing ignorance on this subject, she has not per- 
mitted any false notions of delicacy to prevent her from 
directing attention to the calm and deliberate examina- 
tion of the bearing which the present ignorance has on 
the health and happiness of the sex. 

The reader who has followed the writer thus far, will 
have become convinced, not only from the opinions and 
high authority of the medical writers quoted, but also from 
the facts and arguments which have been aduced, that 
no truth is more apparent than this : That the degree of 
suffering and danger at the period of parturition is entirely 
dependent on the previous mode of life and habits of the 
mother ; and also, that the sound or defective constitution 
transmitted to her offspring will be the result of her at- 
tention or inattention to the laws of health during the pe- 
riod of gestation. 



48 CHILDBIRTH. 

When habits of indolence and luxury have been in- 
dulged in, the appetite pampered to excess, and as a na- 
tural consequence, the vascular system overcharged, to 
the imminent danger of convulsions, of congestion of the 
brain — it is vain for the imprudent sufferer to call in the 
aid of science ; it is then too late to avert the fatal errors 
of ignorance or self-indulgence. No human power can 
save both mother and child ! 

The necessity for the use of the numerous instruments 
of torture and death, so common in the practice of Mid- 
wifery, has arisen in a great measure, from the habits 
referred to in the preceding paragraph. Yet we might 
hope that every woman possessing the common feelings 
of humanity, would inform herself of, and avoid the causes 
which lead to the necessity of using implements so des- 
tructive to infant life. A knowledge of the well-known 
expedients resorted to in such cases of extremity — as the 
breaking up of the infant skull, or the dismembering of 
its tender limbs while quivering with life, should arm 
every mother with sufficient resolution to practice self- 
denial to any extent, in view of averting such fearful con- 
sequences, and preserving the life of her child. 

It is deeply painful to reflect upon the amount of infant 
life sacrificed in such cases ; more particularly when we 
consider in which class of society it generally occurs. 
Not in that of the indigent, uneducated, and laborious ; 
on the contrary, in that of the educated, refined, and af- 
fluent ; who with these advantages possess the power of 
transmitting an improved organization to their offspring, 
and thereby promoting an evident design of the Creator — 
the progress and improvement of the race. A subject 
not yielding in interest and importance to any to which 
the human mind can be directed. 

Fortunately, this opinion is not new ; nor is it limited 
as respects the number and intelligence of those who en- 



CHILDBIRTH. 49 

tertain it. That it is taking deep root in the public mind, 
with the most gratifying rapidity, and promises to be pro- 
ductive of invaluable fruit, appears from an abundance 
of concurrent testimony, not only in the writings of our 
own talented and philanthropic countryman, Dr. Cald- 
well, but also in those of George and Andrew Combe ; 
and in fact, all the observing and inquiring minds of the 
present age, whose attention has been directed to the 
subject. 

The reader to whom these views may appear new, is 
referred to the writer's late work on the " Transmission 
of Intellectual and Moral Qualities from Parents to Off- 
spring/ 5 * where she hopes that facts in proof of their 
truth and utility, will be found sufficient to convince any 
reasonable mind of the importance of this source of hu- 
man improvement. 

To illustrate this subject still further, and fortify the 
sentiments just advanced she will subjoin the following 

extract from the above work : 

" The easy labor and speedy delivery of women of the 
lower classes and of the Indian race, have occasioned 
much discussion among physiologists. The true cause, 
I apprehend, will be found in the want of size and devel- 
opment in the heads of their children. 

" In the statistical tables of Europe, lately published in 
Paris, it is shown that there are three male children still- 
born to two females. This result certainly cannot be the 
effect of chance, but must have some physical cause ; 
and this cause doubtless is the superior size of the heads 
of male children. For it is well known that the human 
head, male and female, vary as materially in form and 

* Published by Taylor & Judd, Astor House. Price 37J cents. 



50 CHILDBIRTH. 

. size at birth, as at maturity ; and also, that difficult and 
protracted labor, when the presentation is natural, and 
there is no distortion of the pelvis,* is caused by the large 
and firm skull of the foetus. 

" There is an editorial note, in Croker's edition of Bos- 
well's Johnson, which, with the aid of phrenology, sheds 
much light on this subject. It is stated in the text, that 
the mother of Johnson, had, at his birth, a very difficult 
and dangerous labor, and that he was born almost dead. 
To which Croker adds, that Addison, Lord Lyttleton, 
Voltaire, and many other eminent men, were born almost 
dead. That this peculiarity should have attended the 
birth of so many gifted individuals, cannot be considered 
accidental ; but rather an evidence of a more powerful 
organization, resulting from an unusual development of 
the brain, the organ of the mind. 

" The truth of the preceding views has been corroborated 

* Distortions of the spinal column, and the bones of the pelvis, are 
more common among females of the middling and higher classes, 
than is generally suspected. This dangerous condition of the system 
is frequently caused by tight lacing in early youth, when the bQnes 
are soft and yielding ; the viscera of the abdominal region being 
pressed down on those unconsolidated bones, they give way under 
the unnatural weight, and distortion is the result. The writer is ac- 
quainted with a family of four sisters, born of healthy parents, of 
course inheriting good constitutions. The eldest was adopted, when 
quite young, by a rich relation, and educated at a fashionable board- 
ing-school, where little attention was paid to the laws of health. 
Want of fresh air and exercise, the excitement of going too early into 
society, late hours, and tight lacing, soon undermined her constitu- 
tion, and produced a lateral curvature of the spine. She, neverthe- 
less, married young, and had numerous offspring. But each parturi- 
tion was attended with excruciating suffering and imminent peril ; 
nor has she ever given birth to a living child. The three other sis- 
ters, whose education and habits were more in accordance with 
nature, have each a large family of healthy children, born without 
difficulty or danger. 



CHILDBIRTH 51 

by much testimony, and was forcibly presented to my 
attention by the circumstances attending the birth of two 
children which came under my immediate observation. 
The mother of one of them was about eighteen years of 
age, of a phlegmatic temperament, indolent habits, and 
educated for display. She was occupied during the whole 
period of her pregnancy, in paying and receiving visits 
of ceremony, in practicing music, embroidery, and other 
fashionable accomplishments, and in endeavoring to at- 
tain the reputation of a superior taste in dress ; her read- 
ing was limited and confined to works of imagination. 
She had neither inclination nor comprehension for any- 
thing more profound than is to be met with in the pages 
of the New- York Mirror, or the Parlor Visitor. Her 
child was born at the full time, but so brief and easy was 
the labor, that neither physician nor nurse was present. 
It was plump and fat enough, but with a head diminutive 
in size and soft in quality. 

" Years have not altered those conditions ; the child in 
intellect is below mediocrity, and the man will be the 
same. In the other instance, the mother was past forty 
years of age, of an energetic temperament, active habits 
and self-educated. For some months previous to the 
birth of her fifth child, she had become a convert to the 
belief in the transmission of mental and moral qualities. 
To test the truth of this belief, she exercised, her own 
mental powers to their full extent. She attended the lec- 
tures of the season, both literary and scientific ; read 
much, but such works only as tend to exercise and 
strengthen the reasoning faculties, and improve the judg- 
ment. The domestic and foreign reviews, history, biog- 
raphy, &c. She was also engaged in the active duties 
of a large family, in which she found full scope for the 
exercise of the moral sentiments, but never allowed any- 
thing to disturb the equanimity of her temper. When 



52 CHILDBIRTH, 

her time came, she was in labor two days ; all her suf- 
fering, however, was forgotten at the birth of a son, with 
a head of the finest form, firmest quality and largest size 
— with the reflecting organs of a Bacon, and the moral 
ones of a Melancthon. A head, in short, on which na- 
ture had written in characters too legible to be misun- 
derstood, strength, power, and capability, and of whom it 
is already said, ' He is the youngest of his family, but 
will soon become its head. 5 

" But it may be said, the number of women is small, 
who would be willing to encounter the extra pains and 
perils of childbirth, induced by the training of the last 
example. To such we can only say, that when they dis- 
cover the minds of their children to be 6 unstable as wa- 
ter/ with scarcely understanding enough to distinguish 
good from evil, and not firmness of character sufficient to 
pursue any steady course through life, in the anxiety and 
unhappiness which such conduct occasions, they must 
reap the punishment of their own want of moral and phy- 
sical courage at the time when the exercise of those qual- 
ities would have transmitted them to their offspring. It 
is, however, my firm conviction, that if women would 
study the structure of their own bodies, and the functions 
of its different organs, and acquire some knowledge of the 
principles of obstetrics, they might escape a great portion 
of the present dangers and sufferings of childbirth : but 
in the present system of female education, that branch of 
knowledge which would enable them to raise a family of 
healthy children with success, appears to be most ne- 
glected. A friend of the authoress of good understand- 
ing, active temperament, and sound constitution, married 
in middle life, and has had two fine boys ; but from her 
utter ignorance of the organic laws, lost them both. 

" The birth of the first was attended by protracted and 
dangerous labor, the child was still-born, but was resus- 



CHILDBIRTH. 53 

citated, and was a remarkably healthy and promising in- 
fant. His sudden death at the age of thirteen months 
was attended by very distressing circumstances, under 
which the mother was sustained by the prospect of the 
birth of another child in seven or eight months. Mean- 
time, the mental anguish occasioned by the death of the 
first child could only be alleviated by constant occupa- 
tion of the mind. She, therefore, undertook an extensive 
course of historical reading, varied by the study of men- 
tal and moral philosophy, to which was added the physio- 
logical and moral training of youth. The subject, how- 
ever, of the most importance at that time — a knowledge 
of the proper habits and course of life necessary to en- 
sure a speedy and safe delivery, was forgotten. The se- 
dentary habits induced by study protracted her time be- 
yond the natural period, and her constant mental exer- 
cise developed the brain of the child to an unusual de- 
gree ; hence, the second labor was more difficult and 
dangerous than the first. The attending physician be- 
lieved, that c nature in a healthy subject was always able 
to do her own work, 5 therefore, rendered her no assist- 
ance except copious bleeding. Nature did, indeed, do 
her own work, but she was so long about it, that a beau- 
tiful male child, weighing twelve pounds, was killed in 
the process. The unfortunate mother was then congratu- 
lated on her escape with life, and was advised, if she val- 
ued life, to pray that she might never have any more 
offspring, for it was impossible for children with heads as 
large and as firm as her's, to be born alive. To which 
she answered, ' that life to her had no charms without 
children, and that she was willing to undergo the same 
three days suffering, and as much more as it was possi- 
ble to survive, or even the Csesarian operation, for the 
sake of a living child.' She immediately procured some 
books of midwifery, from which she learned, that if she 



54 CHILDBIRTH. 

had, for six or eight weeks previously to the expiration 
of her time, taken much gentle exercise in the open air, 
lived very abstemiously and strengthened her system by 
cold baths, nature would have been in a proper condition 
to have done her own work ; or if she required some as- 
sistance from her handmaid art, (which it was possible 
she might, as this child could not have been called a 
child of nature, in the same degree as that of the unedu- 
cated peasant, or the untutored savage) it was more than 
probable that a vapor bath might have relaxed the mus- 
cles, prevented the cramps and chills, and facilitated the 
labor to a successful issue, and she might have rejoiced 
in the birth of a living child." 

It is highly gratifying to the writer to add, that since 
the publication of the above work, this lady has given 
birth to a third son. By pursuing a course dictated by 
reason and experience, that is, by attention to diet, exer- 
cise, air, and bathing, she gave birth to a healthy living 
child, with only two hours labor. Owing, also, to the 
precautions taken as to exercise and diet, this child was 
not as large by one-third as the previous one. 

Such cases are truly encouraging, and should teach us 
the importance of investigating the laws of nature for 
ourselves ; and not to rely with blind confidence on the 
opinions of others, or to acquiesce in a mode of practice 
worthy of the dark ages. 

Reason, observation, experience, and every considera- 
tion bearing on this subject, unite in persuading mothers 
to study the laws of health which govern the condition of 
pregnancy, to appreciate their own responsibility in such 
cases, and not commit so great an injustice to medical 
skill, as to expect it to retrieve their errors, and carry 
them safely through the process of parturition, independ- 
ently of their previous wrong habits. It should, there- 



CHILDBIRTH. 55 

fore, be engraved upon the mind of every mother, as with 
a point of steel, that the degree of suffering and danger, 
present at the period of parturition, will depend entirely 
upon her mode of life and habits during the term of 
gestation. 

Before closing this little volume, the writer is impelled 
by a sense of duty to add a few remarks on a subject of 
the highest importance, both in a moral and physical 
point of view, to the well-being of society. The practice 
of procuring abortion, or, to use a less offensive expres- 
sion, inducing a miscarriage, has of late become so com- 
mon, that it requires to be placed before the public in all 
its naked atrocity. From the increasing number of un- 
principled persons who publicly advertise this destructive 
practice, it is evident that it is extending to a fearful de- 
gree throughout our country : some knowledge, therefore, 
of the dreadful consequences attending such utter viola- 
tions of nature's laws, may be useful. That the act of 
procuring abortion is a crime of the deepest dye, on a par 
with that of murder, no argument can controvert ; nor can 
any, except the weak-minded or the vicious, be persuaded 
to the contrary. Is it possible that any woman of sane 
mind can look upon her living child, and admit for a mo- 
ment that it would be a greater crime to deprive it of life 
by violent means then, than it would have been while in 
a state of embryo ? Many early married, unreflecting 
females, to avoid the cares and responsibilities of a large 
family, allow themselves to be deluded by the miserable 
sophistry, that there is no harm, previous to quickening, , 
in taking the most deadly drugs, or in making use of the 
most violent means to procure abortion. Let them not, 
however, thus deceive themselves, for whatever apparent 
success may, for a time, attend these atrocious practices, 
retribution is sure to follow such gross violations of na- 



56 CHILDBIRTH. 

ture's laws. The moral and physical institutions of a 
wise and just Creator cannot be thus outraged with im- 
punity — effect follows cause as unceasingly here as in 
any other department of organic life. 

Scarcely any misfortune to which humanity is liable, 
is more to be dreaded than a natural tendency to miscar- 
riage. How often has it been the bane of an otherwise 
happy existence ? Its uniform evil effect, upon the gen- 
eral health of the sufferer, is well-known and admitted : 
and yet, strange perversity, an incredible number of fe- 
males, in all ranks and conditions of life, are found, who 
in their pitiable ignorance are willing, often for slight 
personal considerations, to risk a constant liability to this 
constitutional evil, and thereby commit, in an indirect 
manner, the crime of self-murder. Among several cases 
fresh in the memory of the writer is that of Mrs. W — — , 
a woman highly respected for her piety, and in some re- 
spects good sense, having borne four healthy children, 
and thereby acquired a priceless treasure. Some plaus- 
ible demon incited her to the use of these unhallowed 
means, to avoid, in the cant phrase of the day, a too nu- 
merous family. After five years of success, she is now 
a helpless ruin, totally prostrated in her nervous system, 
and entirely blind. And again, these days of modern re- 
finement have given rise to another baneful practice. 
The newly-married, youthful couple, must for a season 
enjoy the butterfly-life of gayety proper to their condition 
in the present improved scale of existence, to do which, 
it is absolutely necessary to avoid the inconvenience and 
cares of offspring. This can only be accomplished by 
encouraging — harmlessly and for the present only, mind 
you — a miscarriage, forgetting that this outrage upon na- 
ture can only be inflicted by incurring the heavy liabili- 
ty to the mother of permanent and irreparable injury, or 
perhaps laying the train for a premature death. . 



CHILDBIRTH. 57 

Thus it is with the family of R. — or, more properly 
speaking, thus it is with that lonely, unhappy, because 
childless couple, who, in their early marriage day, long 
years ago, threw away, like the unbelieving Jew, the 
pearls that would have enriched his tribe. 

" In England,' 5 lately remarked a native of that coun- 
try, "every mother feels proud of having reared a large 
family of healthy, joyous children — ten or fifteen being 
no unusual number. While the American mothers, I 
observe, generally have small families, particularly in 
the higher classes of society." An old and experienced 
physician present significantly referred the speaker 
to the glaring advertisements of certain quacks, re- 
marking, that these fiends in human form escaped un- 
whipped of justice, because the patronage they received 
enabled them, when prosecuted, to employ the best legal 
defence in the country ; and that their practice being 
principally confined to the wealthy portion of the com- 
munity, many a dark deed of iniquity has been conceal- 
ed — the patients in such cases preferring any amount of 
suffering, or even death, to the public exposure which 
must ensue in bringing the criminal to justice. 

In a subsequent conversation, this physician stated to 
the writer, that many distressing cases of this kind had 
fallen under his observation — cases in which it was clear 
to the experienced eye of the physician, that the patient 
had most ignorantly tampered with her constitution, in- 
terfered with, and interrupted the natural functions of 
her system. For after giving birth, at regular intervals, 
to healthy children, the young and vigorous mother sud- 
denly becomes sterile. Years pass, during which fre- 
quent indispositions occur, leaving behind them a consti- 
tution strangely shattered, and a nervous system in ruins. 
The misguided sufferer at length perceives the dreadful 
results of her practices, and desists — pregnancy ensues, 



58 CHILDBIRTH. 

but the whole term of gestation is one of painful debility, 
and at its close, in the effort for relief, outraged nature 
denies the necessary energy : the patient sinks to the 
tomb, another victim to the Moloch of selfishness, leaving 
a family of young children motherless, to grow up in ig- 
norance and tread the same path of error which led to 
her destruction. 

Oh, Justice! where is thy whip of scorpions to lash the 
vile Charlatan, who thus makes a trade of death, naked 
through the world ? 



TH^ END 



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